Deputy Education Minister Dr Clement Abas Apaak has told Ghana’s young people that they have the capacity to compete and succeed on the global technology stage, using the platform of a national robotics competition to reinforce the government’s push for a science and innovation-driven education system.
Dr Apaak delivered the remarks in a keynote address on behalf of Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu at the fifth edition of the Annual Impact Roundtable Discussion and Robotics Competition (AIRTAD 2026), held on Wednesday, February 26, 2026, at the Cedi Conference Centre, University of Ghana, Legon.
The 2026 edition of AIRTAD, organised by the Yamoransa Model Laboratories Programme under the theme “Shaping Tomorrow’s Workforce Through Education and Innovation,” marks five years of the initiative. The competition brings together students from junior and senior high schools across the country to showcase robotics builds, project exhibitions, and Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) innovations developed through model laboratory clubs established in communities outside the main urban centres.
Dr Apaak said Ghana’s education reforms are designed precisely to create the conditions in which students like those competing at AIRTAD can access tools, training, and platforms previously unavailable to most young Ghanaians. He pointed to the government’s ongoing curriculum review, the integration of coding and digital literacy from the basic school level, the construction of dedicated STEAM senior high schools, and a Girls in STEM programme as structural investments intended to broaden participation in technology education.
NaCCA Director-General Professor Samuel Bekoe, who also addressed the event, said Ghana’s education system is no longer preparing learners for a stable world but for one shaped by rapid disruption, artificial intelligence and automated systems. “We are no longer preparing learners for a world that stays still; we are preparing them for a world of rapid disruption, artificial intelligence and automated systems,” he said, adding that innovation must become a right for all students and not a privilege for the few.
Naoki Mitori, Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Japan in Ghana, encouraged participants to back their potential with effort. “Ghana is a land of promise and possibilities. If you believe in your potential and give your best effort, you will be able to achieve your dreams,” he said.
The AIRTAD platform has grown steadily since its launch and is widely regarded as one of the few domestic competitions that places rural and peri-urban students alongside their urban peers in a rigorous technical environment. Participating schools are drawn from model laboratory clubs established in communities including Yamoransa in the Central Region, giving students in underserved areas structured exposure to robotics tools including Arduino, Spike Prime, and Lego Mindstorms systems.
The government’s ambition to position Ghana as a technology-competitive nation gained further emphasis last week when President Mahama announced in his 2026 State of the Nation Address that six new Regional Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Centres of Excellence would be built nationwide, and that the national curriculum review would integrate robotics, coding, and generative artificial intelligence into mainstream education.
